Rock and a Hard Place



Matthew 21:23-27
23And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

There hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t impressed by Jesus’ ability to wrestle the Pharisees to the ground with a few well-chosen words. The reading for today is just another example of a verbal exchange which ends with the Pharisees walking away with a metaphorical black eye. The topic of the conversation is authority which is a big subject when it comes to the faith. Who has the power? That’s always the question. The brilliance of Jesus shines once again in such a way as to inspire awe and reverence for the King of Glory. With one short question Jesus places the Pharisees between a rock and hard place. There is no direction to turn that won’t serve as their undoing. So they stupidly say “we don’t know” and are humiliated before the people yet again.

Of course this wasn’t a conversation held merely for the benefit of the Pharisees. It stands as a lesson for us as well. In fact each of us has to answer the authority question every day for ourselves. Who will I follow today; myself and the world or the Lord Jesus? Who has authority in my life? I would suggest the answer might be – both! In some things (maybe even most things) I give God the authority and follow His lead. But each of us has those areas that we withhold from Him. We want to be the one in charge of that part of our lives. You may even consider it a small thing. But in God’s economy, there are no small things!

In Jonah 2:8 we find these words. “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”  Whatever part of our lives we separate from God is considered idolatry. That is where we become idol worshipers. It doesn’t mean you are no longer a believer. But you are forfeiting God’s grace in that area of your life. It’s a dumb idea – but we all do it and we all know what those areas are for us personally. The “hard place” is our desire to have authority over certain things. The “Rock” is the sovereign reign of God over everything. May God give you peace and success in turning over those worthless idols to the Rock of our Salvation!

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